THE MAINSTAY FUNDS
Supplement dated January 7, 1997 to the
Prospectus dated May 1, 1996
The Prospectus is amended as follows:
1. In the description of the Value Fund under the heading
"Who's Managing your Money?" on page 28, Mr. Kolefas'
biography is hereby deleted and replaced with the following:
Mr. Simon joined MacKay-Shields in 1993. Mr. Simon is
a Director of MacKay-Shields and specializes in equity
securities. Previously, Mr. Simon was a senior equity
research analyst and portfolio manager at National
Securities and Research Corporation (from 1991-1992)
and Neuberger & Berman (from 1987-1991).
2. Effective January 1, 1996, the Administrator voluntarily
agreed to reduce its fees payable by the Equity Index Fund
to the extent that Fund's total expenses (including Rule
12b-1 fees) for any fiscal year exceed .80% of the value of
the Fund's average annual net assets. See Note + to the
chart on the Administrator's fees on page 63.
3. In the section titled "Deferred Sales Charge Class B
Shares - Contingent Deferred Sales Charge, Class B" on page
68, the following subsection is added at the end of the
listing of redemptions for which the contingent deferred
sales charge will be waived:
and (xviii) redemptions by shareholders of shares
purchased with the proceeds of a settlement payment
made in connection with the liquidation and dissolution
of a limited partnership sponsored by New York Life or
one of its affiliates.
4. In the description of the High Yield Corporate Bond Fund
under the heading "The Fund invests in..." on page 30, the
first item under "Under normal market conditions..." is
hereby deleted and replaced with the following:
...at least 65% of total assets in corporate debt
securities: all types of foreign and domestic debt
securities ordinarily in the lower rating categories of
Moody's (Baa to B) and S&P (BBB to B). These
securities tend to offer yields above those that are
rated higher and are not considered speculative.
5. In the description of the International Equity Fund and
International Bond Fund under the heading "Who's Managing
your Money?" on pages 25 and 31, respectively, Mr.
Perelstein's biography is hereby deleted and replaced with
the following on page 31:
Mr. Portera is a Director of MacKay-Shields
specializing in international bonds. He returned to
MacKay-Shields in December 1996 after working at
Fiduciary Trust Company International as a portfolio
manager in international bonds. Mr. Portera joined
MacKay-Shields in 1991 and was portfolio manager of the
International Bond Fund from its inception in September
1994 to August 1995. Previously, Mr. Portera was a
portfolio manager specializing in international debt
securities at ABN-AMRO Bank, N.V. (from 1988-1991).
Shigemi Takagi remains a portfolio manager of the
International Equity Fund. His biography appears on page 25.
